Shashlik with Letcho

I’m sure you’ve heard the word Shashlik before and maybe in your tradition is actually is a kind of meat on stick dish. The one I’m presenting here is the kind of Shashlik (actually spelled Schaschlik. Where I’m from) I remember from childhood BBQ’s in North Eastern Germany. 

Much of our cuisine was highly influenced by Hungarian dishes, and this one is a prime example. 

Meat on sticks covered with a tangy Paprika and tomato based sauce. Fond memories....

For the Schaschlik any kind of meat or sausage can be used, but tradition had it, that 

Diced Pork Fillet

Thick sliced of bacon and diced pork liver

Or pieces of liver rolled in bacon

Sliced pickled cucumbers and 

Onion segments

were used to make up the sticks. 

Nowadays I like to add more things. Meatballs, bratwurst, peppers, mushrooms and whatever else I can think of. The more variety to more fun to eat! 

The Letcho sauce is made by 

Sautéing Bell peppers or similar and onions in bacon fat or olive oil, then adding fresh tomoatoes, preferably skinned or tinned or passata. I like passata as it’s nice and smooth and makes an attractive sauce. 

Simply add salt, pepper and paprika powder to taste and a delicious sauce awaits. It’s lovely hot, but I actually really like it fridge cold. 

The traditional Schaschlik Recipe:

1 Pork Fillet, diced into 1inch pieces

400g chicken livers, cut into equal size pieces to the Pork 

4slices of streaky bacon cut in half and used to roll around the chicken livers

1 onion, quartered, then the segments separated. 

1 large gherkin, thickly sliced

Salt, pepper and paprika powder mixed together to make the seasoning 

Alternate the ingredients onto your skewers and bbq, grill or shallow fry on a medium heat until cooked through, while turning frequently. 

Letscho German Style:

1 red, yellow and green bell pepper, sliced

1 400ml jar of passata

1 onion, sliced

1tbs lard, (I’m using olive oil, but lard was the fat of choice in olden days)

Salt, pepper and paprika powder to season

Sauté the peppers and onions in the fat until softened, the. Add the passata, season and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or leave to cool. It’s delicious at any temperature. 

Chicken Biryani

Here is my home made Chicken Biryani recipe. It is not strictly regional but a version which includes all the things I love, the way I love them. Much could be said about the subject, but Im not one for many words these days, so here it goes:

There are a few steps to Biryani. 

Step one: 

Soak 1 mug of basmati rice in cold water 

Step two: 

Make the chicken curry:

Ingredients: serves 4

The marinade for the chicken

2 skinned free range chicken thighs or legs cut at the joint

2 tbs yogurt low fat, but not fat free as this may curdle while cooking

1 chopped tomato

1 tbs ginger garlic paste

1 tbs crisp fried onion

1 tbs Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

Mix all this together and set aside

Step three:

Into a pot that has a nice tight fitting lid, goes: 

1tbs oil or ghee or a mixture of both

6 Green Cardamon pods

3 pieces of Cassia Bark or 1cinnamon stick

10black peppercorns

6 cloves

2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered

Fry the whole spices and potatoes for a little while until fragrant and the potato is lightly browned on the sides. 

Add the marinated chicken to the pot and stir well together. Add just enough water to keep everything simmering without going to dry. 

Step Four:

Now cook the soaked basmati rice for 5 minutes in simmering seasoned water. 

Bring enough water to easily engulf the rice to a rolling boil with salt, a couple of cardamon pods, 2 cloves and a cassia bark stick. Carefully poor the drained rice into the water and simmer for 7 minutes. The rice will now be about half done. 

Strain the rice through a colander.

Step Five:

The chicken should now be ready for the rice to go on top. 

But first place 4 soft boiled, peeled eggs onto the chicken curry. Then sprinkle the part cooked rice gently on top of the curry. It's important to leave it fluffy instead of pressing it down. 

Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat, then turn off the heat and leave to sit for a further 5 minutes before revealing your aromatic Biryani. 

Sprinkle with mint, coriander and more crisp fried onions and serve with mint and onion raita. 

Bon Apetit! 

Wonton Soup

I've been meaning to make these at home for a very long time. Today I finally found the time and have gathered all the ingredients. 

They are:

For the dumpling stuffing mixture:

300g minced lean pork

200g raw prawns, chopped roughly

1 egg

1 heaped tsp corn starch

3 chopped spring onions

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp salt

A few shakes of white pepper 

5 drops of toasted sesame oil

1 tsp light soy sauce 

Simply mix all these ingredients together with your hands. 

There are a lot of home cook recipes out there, that add all sorts of vegetables to the mix, but I want the most authentic Chinese restaurant taste, that I crave. So no extra veg in my mix!

I have bought dumpling wrappers from an Asian grocery. They usually come frozen. There are thin ones or thicker ones, round or square ones. The shape doesn't matter, but thinner ones are better for this purpose. 

Next it's filling the wrappers. After defrosting, gently pull a wrapper off, lay it out in one hand and with a spoon gather a small amount of stuffing and place it on the middle of the dumpling skin. Have a cup of water nearby to dip the spoon in and use the edge of the spoon also to lightly wet the outer edge of the wrapper. Then fold over and seal. You only need to wet one side, to stick it to the other side. It seems a bit fiddly at first but I promise it gets easier as you go! 

There are many ways to shape wontons, but however you do it, it's going to be the right way! As long as the filling is enclosed in the wrapper ;)

 I have tried both steaming and boiling the wontons, and both work, but boiling achieves a softer texture, while steaming a more chewy one. 

I like them both. 

As there are now quite a few wontons lying around, so I have frozen some in batches and have eaten some straight away... but to make the actual soup, I used the water that the wontons cooked in. Strained out any bits and seasoned with a little light soy and added a few chopped spring onions. To make more broth, I would use a light chicken stock to create it, seasoning with light soy and a couple of drops of sesame oil. 

The wontons are so delicious they need nothing more. 

However to make it more of a meal, Chinese cabbages, mushrooms and noodles can be added.